Comments | liveonearth: Depressed Mothers Cause of Tea Party Mentality?

liveonearth

Depressed Mothers Cause of Tea Party Mentality?

Aug 19, 2011 12:37

The new finding is that 10 year old children of persistently depressed mothers have larger amygdalas. This new finding makes me wonder.......about our society. But-- a little orientation for those of you who don't read about the brain all the time. The amygdala is part of the mammalian or limbic brain, and it is the part that helps us feel fear ( Read more... )

brain, television, mother, parenting, nervous system, depression, ssri, pregnancy, fear, culture

Comments 10

bobby1933 August 19 2011, 22:39:45 UTC

Wow! This means there should be a connection between fear and conservatism (which i always thought, certainly they are reciprocally reinforcing), but it also suggests a connection between fear and spirituality and between spirituality and conservatism. As a person who considers himself both "spiritual" and "radical" (to me there is only a radical left, radical right is an oxymoron) i am given pause.....??????

liveonearth August 22 2011, 02:44:10 UTC

There's a big difference between religiousity and spiritualism. Don't worry, you are not an oxymoron. Heh.

My theory about today's politics is that it is a circle. There is left and right and the middle where Obama lurks, all of which accept the status quo in terms of finance and government to a great degree. Then there is the far left and far right which can barely speak to each other, but both agree that our current system is fubar and needs to be dismantled and reborn. And then between far left and far right is where I find myself, completing a circle. I am somewhere between socialism and libertarianism, wishing that we could somehow have a political party with the long view about human survival (thrival?) instead of the short view of the next election.

bobby1933 August 22 2011, 04:31:42 UTC

Yeah. Thrival i like.

rick_day August 20 2011, 00:01:34 UTC

So..you are saying conservatives are...retarded?

*mulls*

*ponders*

*snickers*

liveonearth August 22 2011, 02:45:28 UTC

More emotional and instinctive, and less cerebral and rational? They wouldn't like that characterization but it seems deeply true.

hausfrauatu August 20 2011, 02:26:36 UTC

That is interesting! I think it depends. My mother-in-law was a massive depressive. Only one of the four is a political conservative. He lives in New Hampshire and is perhaps the most defensive person I have ever met. The others are more into the "people need to help each other" model, since your life can fall part due to forces beyond your control.

My kids BECOMING tea party types. Now THAT would be depressing!

hausfrauatu August 20 2011, 02:36:19 UTC

Even though now that I think about it for another second...My sister in law (who is a MESS) has kids that are strong believers in the occult. She is as well. They watch those shows on cable and really BELIEVE. She has flirted with Pentecostal type denominations. My younger niece LOVES old time Religion. I think it gives her some sense of security.

My Brother in law is a member of a very conservative "Lutheran" church that has NO structure and is conducted by lay preachers, who open up the bible and speak extemporaneously. There is no doctrine or educational process other than hanging around in church. Their knowledge of the Bible is weak. It's all about 'faith' and 'belief'

My husband believes in God, but is a-religious.

liveonearth August 22 2011, 02:51:12 UTC

Belief in anything is dangerous. Better to be skeptical even of what we believe, and to allow for possibility of truth in each viewpoint no matter how contrary to our own. ....

ford_prefect42 August 20 2011, 03:10:44 UTC

First of all, you know as well as I do that studies of the brain are dicey at best. It's virtually impossible to separate cause from effect. The study that stated that conservatives have larger amygdalas therefore could be measuring cause IE, conservatism is caused by enlarged amygdala which create additional fear and drive a person into conservative patterns, OR, enlarged amygdala could be an *effect* of conservatism, IE, observation of the trends of the country cause the conservatives to fear for the future, which causes enlargement of the amygdala ( ... )

liveonearth August 22 2011, 02:38:32 UTC

Agreed, there is nothing conclusive about these findings, but I can't help but to notice all the parallels! The chicken and egg question is eternal. Perhaps the baby boomer conservatism has to do with the Great Depression and its after effects!? I can tell that the GD had a profound effect on the psychology (and possibly neurobiology) of my own family. There are however some generational changes noticeable in the offspring OF generation x mothers.... have you read A General Theory of Love yet? Great book that offers an excellent survey of the literature about human attachment, and some theories about what is happening among our young and why.